


love is a battlefield (down at mos eisley)

by kyloreyx



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Diners, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Badass Rey, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Poe Dameron/Finn, Eventual Smut, F/M, Jedi Rey, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren Redemption, Protective Finn, Reylo - Freeform, Sassy Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-03-14 20:26:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13597725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyloreyx/pseuds/kyloreyx
Summary: Down in Coruscant, in a little diner called Mos Eisley, a head-strung Rey works off her parent's debt to Unkar Plutt alongside her friends Finn and Poe. The First Order and Resistance gangs have been at it for as long as she can remember, sometimes even as she waited tables. Her seemingly simple life changes when the infamous Kylo Ren comes to her with a forceful proposition.----The bell chimed as a customer came in and it made sense. The leather jacket in July, the sarcasm, his hot-headed nature… He was infamous in this part of Coruscant. He was Kylo Ren, the fabled future leader of the First Order gang.Rey was having breakfast with a man in a gang. She let him buy her oatmeal.Sensing her unease, Kylo’s mouth twitched into a trace of a smirk. He was enjoying watching her squirm. “You have a name?”“Rey,” she breathes.“Dumb name.”





	1. oatmeal and eggs benedict

**Author's Note:**

> Woah! This is my first AO3 fanfiction and my first Reylo fanfiction, so please go easy. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!
> 
> WARNING: There's coarse language in this fic, and I put the Graphic Depictions of Violence tag just for now as this is a gang story, but when the time comes to write something to fall under that category I don't think I'll go into excruciating detail.
> 
> Love Is A Battlefield by Wrongchilde ft. White Sea

The cafe was brimming with its usual Sunday-morning excitement. Enthusiastic conversations, the clinking of cutlery to plates, the rubbing of chairs on the worn tile floors as patrons came in and out of the door, it’s little bell signalling hello and goodbye. Waiting on tables wasn’t an easy job, but Rey found comfort in the smiles she brought to people’s faces when she brought them their meals. It was the little victories like that which got her through her day.

_Mos Eisley_ wasn’t your average restaurant. The owner, Unkar Plutt, made sure it changed throughout the day to maximize profit. For now, it was the shabby breakfast joint, come afternoon it was a diner, and at night it transformed into a bar, offering refuge for more… _violent_ patrons. Rey never went downstairs at that time unless she absolutely had to. She could hear the fights and crash of plates through the thin walls of her room upstairs all throughout the night.

Now, however, _Mos Eisley_ was relatively at peace. The light streamed in through the opened blinds in the front windows while the sweet smell of pancakes and breakfast sausages engulfed the room in comforting waves. The bell of the door kept chiming, and Unkar kept handing her more and more dishes to pass out. One drink refill here, another order of hash browns there, and the hours piled on and on before it took Unkar himself to shove a bowl of oatmeal in her hands to realize she was in desperate need of a break. She thanked him and took the warm bowl gratefully, as this was a rare sign of appreciation from him. Usually, she had to cook and pay for her own breakfast, as per his rules. 

She collapsed down in her favourite seat beside the front window, facing the door. The bustling sound of the room faded away until all there was was Rey, this gorgeous bowl of oatmeal, and the sun streaming down on her face. She hadn’t even noticed Finn come and drop a glass jar marked “brown sugar” on her table until she was halfway finished. She watched him hand out orders and print up bills with the same ease she had in a satisfied haze. Her smile at him widened as she patted her tummy, resulting in giggles from the both of them. For the first time in a while, Rey’s stomach would be full and happy.

Her delirium ended when the door slammed open. A tall man with scruffy black hair wearing a leather jacket and a blonde woman dressed similarly stormed in yelling at each other.

“Fuck, Phasma, _no_! We’re not going to talk about it anymore, I’ve made up my mind!” he spoke over her protests as he demanded a table at Finn.

“I’m sorry, we only have one seat available…”

“Great!” he yelled. He turned back to Phasma. “You can go fuck off! And don’t think about calling me again.”

A few curses and a brisk beverage chucking and Phasma was gone. The little bell jolted above the pressure of her door slam. Rey watched utterly speechless because these things rarely happen on Sunday mornings. The ill-tempered man was sitting in front of her before she could even protest against it.

“This place got a menu?” he asked her, annoyed.

She nodded quickly and scurried off to fetch him a menu. When she got back he had taken off his wet jacket and his sunglasses, revealing toned arms under a casual white shirt and light brown eyes. They were stern and stared pointedly into her bowl of oatmeal so she raced back and handed him the menu, trying to avoid his gaze. Without a thank you, he flipped through the busted up menu but kept looking back at her meal as she ate it.

“That looks like shit. I sure won’t order it.” he declared.

Rey didn’t take a moment to think before she countered, mouth half-full of her hearty meal. “It tastes pretty good when your starving.” She wanted nothing to do with this man who looked like he would punch anything, anywhere, any chance he got.

He picked up the jar of brown sugar and looked at her. Her eyes met his and she was at a loss for words. Maybe it was a mixture of fear from his outburst or something… _else_ , but he made shivers go down her spine. He pursed his lips and nodded at her while rolling his eyes. Rey had half the mind to call him out and ask him if he treats all women he meets like garbage but knew better than that.

Before the moment had gotten past the point of so-awkward-it-hurts return, Finn came back with a little notebook and pencil in his hand. He was good but not as good as Rey, she had a perfect memory score when it came to orders. “What can I get you?” 

“Eggs Benedict, and another order of- whatever that is for the lady.” He gives Finn the menu, ignoring Rey’s protests. She didn’t want to owe this guy anything, especially when it seemed he had a habit of ignoring people. 

Finn nodded at him and looked at Rey with soft eyes. _You can leave if you want to,_ they told her, but a little voice in the back of her mind told her to stay.

“Thank you, um…” she trailed off as Finn walked towards the kitchen and back into the mayhem. Her eyes refused to meet her mystery man’s, trailing anywhere but at him.

He sighed, “My name is Kylo Ren.”

The bell chimed as a customer came in and it made sense. The leather jacket in July, the sarcasm, his hot-headed nature… He was infamous in this part of Coruscant. He was Kylo Ren, the fabled future leader of the First Order gang. 

Rey was having breakfast with a man in a gang. She let him buy her _oatmeal_. 

Sensing her unease, Kylo’s mouth twitched into a trace of a smirk. He was enjoying watching her squirm. “You have a name?”

“Rey,” she breathes.

“Dumb name.”

“And _Phasma_?“

He slammed his hand on the table. Rey looked at him, terrified she made the wrong move before he starts to laugh. “Touché, touché…” A wave of relief fell over her. She should keep the talking to a minimum before she makes an enemy out of this man. “That bitch really pisses me off. You work here?”

She nods reluctantly. “I’m on break.”

He crosses his arms and leans forward onto the table, straining to get a good look at her. “Then how come I’ve never seen you here before? Plutt must keep the pretty birds upstairs in their cages at night.”

She glared at him defiantly. Forget keeping talking to a minimum, nobody has the right to talk to her that way. “I work mornings, and _don’t_ call me a pretty bird.” Although he raised his hands in surrender with a raising of his brows, his eyes said _I can call you whatever I want._

“One order of oatmeal, and one eggs benedict,” Finn announces, carefully setting the plates onto the table alongside some ketchup for Kylo. Rey thanks him and he nods at her, walking away.

Kylo doesn’t wait, he starts digging into his meal with the same vengeance she had with her first bowl of oatmeal. “That your boyfriend?”

“No. You ask a lot of questions,” she says quickly, without thinking. Finn had been a brother to her over the years, they were reaching the age of eighteen but had always known a life working in _Mos Eisley_ together. She always took mornings while he always took afternoons, their third counterpart, Poe, handing the dastardly nightshift.

They both ate in silence, a thousand questions plaguing Rey’s mind. Why would Kylo Ren buy her breakfast only to antagonize her? She had never met this man before in her life.

Almost as if on cue, he speaks up as he takes a break to dap his napkin onto the edges of his mouth, wiping away some leftover ketchup. Rey can’t help but watch. “You know, a thank you would be nice.”

“I already did thank you.”

“For the food, yeah, but how about a roof over your head once you’re out of this shithole? Hm?” 

Her jaw dropped. This man was insane. “What are you talking about?”

“The First Order sent me to invite you to our ranks,” he says simply.

“I don’t- I…” she couldn’t help but look back at Finn as she stuttered.

Kylo chuckled. “What, you thought that you and waiter-boy would work it out? Find a place all on your own? You’re in _Coruscant,_ kid, shit’s not that easy.” He leans back in his seat. “Like I said, you should be thanking me. I was sent by the higher-ups, little bird. They want you with us.”

“I told you not to call me that. I don’t know you, or your higher-ups.” Her tone got louder by the second. “You don’t know a thing about me, I will never” - her voice drops back down to a whisper - “join a _gang_. You’re a monster.” She spat it all back in his face before she had a moment to rethink it. Maybe she should have, maybe she shouldn’t have, looking back on it she’ll never know.

“Yes, I am.”

The jar shattered to pieces, it’s contents spilling everywhere and resulting in a squeak from her. The crowd of diners looked to them, conversations quieting, murmurs exchanging. Finn and Unkar stopped too. Once Unkar realized who Rey was talking to, he yelled and made his exit from the kitchen.

“I’ll be back,” Kylo said, before dropping some bills on the table, a little extra for the mess, and waltzed out of the restaurant. 

Nobody touched the jar. It just shattered on its own.


	2. apple juice box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What did Kylo Ren say about me?”
> 
> “Oh, just that he’d like to take you out on his motorcycle on a romantic tour of Coruscant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW!! I was blown away at the positive response the first chapter got. I can't thank everyone enough, I really appreciate all the lovely comments I received. I'd love to chat with people further about the story, so shoot me a message on my tumblr kyloreyx.tumblr.com <3 
> 
> Y'all the BESTEST so I bring you this chapter two days after the first. From here on out, I'm gonna try to post weekly!

“He did _what_?”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Rey begins to explain, “but I know what I saw. The jar just _exploded_!”

She was standing with Unkar in the den upstairs. His arms were crossed and he was seething at her, giving her a little too good a view of his browning teeth. This Kylo Ren character got her into more trouble than she wanted. He grabbed her arm, squeezing hard, and it took everything in her not to shriek in fear. She knew she needed to keep her backbone when it came to him. “Where are your tips, you stupid girl?”

The lights flickered slightly as her eyes widened, but she paid no mind to it, writing it off as a trick of the light. She was mad now. “No way, I didn’t do anything wrong! I earned that!” She spit it back in his face without a trace of regret.

Before he could yell more, Poe stumbled his way in, half asleep and exhausted from his long night shift. “He was here last night boss. He was talking about her with some blonde over drinks. Rey had nothing to do with this.” He collapsed on the couch and rested his feet on the broken coffee table cross-legged.

Unkar’s grip on her tightened as he yanked her closer. His breath smelled absolutely vile and she tried not to gag. “You better not talk to him again, _or else_.” He groaned and let her go. She sighed with relief as he retreated back downstairs into the throng of customers. 

“Thank you, Poe,” she rested down next to him on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder. He chuckled slightly to himself and wrapped his arm around her in response. 

For as long as she could remember, Rey saw Poe as a big brother because he always looked out for her. They both knew she could hold her own downstairs in the restaurant, but when it came to Unkar, she was never a match. He never believed a word she said, and Poe always seemed to be there when things were on the verge of getting really, really bad. It was an unspoken agreement the two shared, and there were a lot of those around here.

“What did Kylo Ren say about me?”

“Oh, just that he’d like to take you out on his motorcycle on a romantic tour of Coruscant.”

She laughed and smacked his arm. “I’m serious! What does he want with me?”

“The First Order is known for random recruitments,” Poe explained to her, back so quickly to his serious manner. “Apparently Snoke is going to be choosing between Ren and some guy named Hux to lead the gang soon. Maybe he’s building his ranks against his opponent, I don’t know. I tend to tune out the gang talk downstairs when I know they have guns strapped to their belts.”

Rey nodded, slowly understanding it bit by bit. She got up from the couch and started pacing around the cramped living space. “That doesn’t explain the jar, or why he was so upset with Phasma on his way in.”

“Or how he found you,” Poe adds, leaning forward, brows furrowed.

“He told her he had ‘made up his mind.' I wonder what he meant by it; maybe he meant _me_. Either way… he said he’d be back.”

He stood up to stand opposite of her. Poe Dameron sure can be an ass at times, always getting in trouble for being too headstrong and thinking with his ass, but he always knew exactly what to say. He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her a little bit. “Rey, you don’t have to go with him. I know this isn’t exactly the nicest place in the city but you got me and Finn here to help you out. We won’t let him or anyone hurt you, and even if he tried, I think you’re tough enough to take him on your own.”

Rey listened to him, sure, but the image of Kylo Ren’s smirk and the jar shattering replayed in her mind until Poe left the room.

 

———

 

Once she finished her chores, Rey had the rest of the day to herself. She shared a room in the upstairs of the small apartment with Finn. It had two single beds shoved into the corners of the tight space, with a small window between them shielded by yellowing blinds. Every morning Finn would groan as she opened them and let all the light in with a smile. At the foot of her bed, she had all her tinkering projects and a long staff in case of emergencies (because it’s "always better to be safe than sorry", Finn would say). The scrap on the floor provided a nice cover for the rows upon rows of tally’s she had etched into the wall. There was one for every day she’d spent sleeping in that room; she was slowly getting one-day closer to her debt to Unkar being paid when she turned eighteen.

She’d spend most days sprawled on the floor in between their beds toying with whatever nuts and bolts she could find, but today she ran short. Everything she scavenged for has either been used in one of her many projects shoved under her bed or just un-usable for what she had in mind. She wanted to make a small gift for the boys, nothing too flashy or bulky, but just big enough to keep in their pocket while they all worked their respective shifts. It was very rare for the three of them to be together at the same time, with debts to pay and all, so Rey thought the comfort of having a piece of her with them at all times would be a nice gift. 

She grabbed her quarterstaff and retracted it to half its size before shoving it in her homemade hip belt and putting on her shaggy grey coat. It would do for now with the crisp fall weather outside as long as it wasn’t windy, because as soon as the snow comes she’ll be stuck inside for months. That's the curse of only being able to afford one jacket and never being used to the slightest cold. She swung her cloth bag over her shoulder and prayed she would find some decent cloth at the junkyard to help patch up the little holes that formed on the bottom.

A thought struck her mind at the staircase before she made her way down to the lunchtime rush. She’d have to remember Poe’s words of wisdom when she went out there. Somebody from the First Order could be monitoring the diner; more accurately monitoring _her_. 

She’ll make them sorry if they ever tried to land a finger on her.

She huffed and gripped her quarterstaff under her coat as she marched down the stairs, head held high. Nobody would scare her into staying home like a caged bird. She made eye contact with Finn as she navigated through the familiar table layout. He looked at her with surprise, but knowing her all too well smiled and shook his head. He knew she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. She was suddenly really appreciative of the trusting relationship they shared and smiled back. The little bell chimed behind her as she left _Mos Eisley_ behind.

 

———

 

At the junkyard, Rey poked around all her lucky spots until she had quite a nice collection of pieces. She felt the eyes of the kind owner, Maz Kanata, on her back as she dug through the heavy piles of metal. 

Satisfied, Rey wiped her greasy brow and walked over to her friend. She sat down next to her on the foldout lawn chairs in the untouched grassy area of the fenced yard. The smell of metallic piss and pollutants filled the air but Rey didn’t care; anything beat walking past Unkar and a warm summer’s day after a long shift. Besides, this place was one of her few sanctuaries in this city that was actually _safe_ , thanks to Maz. She had been running through this scrapyard for years. “Do you think I can make small figurines out of this stuff?” 

Maz chuckled and poked through the contents of Rey’s bag, which was now filled to the rim. “Oh yes, this will do just fine.” She paused and reached over to put her palm on Rey’s hand. “I heard about your run-in with a certain someone this morning.”

Rey sighed at the twinkle in Maz’s eye. Old as she was, Maz could always spare a moment for gossip and inquiry, although it was usually about how Rey and Finn were doing romantically and who Poe hooked up with last. She always seemed to know everything about everyone. “He bought me oatmeal,” Rey replied. She didn’t want to get any deeper into the subject.

Maz chuckled again. “That man may scream bad news, but he’s always been quite the looker.” She reached down into her own pouch to pull out two semi-crushed apple juice boxes and handed one to Rey.

Rey scoffed as she accepted the beverage, stabbing the top of it open with the little plastic straw. “He’s insane! He caused a scene when he yelled at this Phasma lady then smashed a jar of brown sugar. It was so strange, he didn’t even touch it, it just-“

“Hold on, child,” Maz interrupted. “He didn’t touch it but it smashed?” 

All Rey could do was nod as she quietly sipped from her juice box. It took her a moment of watching Maz’s gears silently turn in her head to find her words. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. He wants me to go with him, and I’m not sure he’ll take no for an answer.”

Maz stood up and walked over to a long piece of metal resting in front of them. It was almost twice her size but she lifted it with ease. “Do you remember when we used to sword-fight when you were young? I know you have that staff on you, Rey. Come,” she beckoned.

Rey scrunched her nose with a wry smile but stood up anyway. “Maz, I may not be eighteen yet but I’m still not a child.”

The old woman responded by lowering into a fighting stance, staff in hand, urging her forward. “I never said that, child. And if you were one, you wouldn’t be carrying that weapon with you.”

Without a moment’s notice, Rey’s hand quickly darted to her chest and whipped out her quarterstaff to its full length. Maz charged at her and metal hit metal in between them as they exchanged determined smiles. Rey took the defence and spun to deflect Maz’s lower swoop and blocked against the next hit. A series of blocks ensued as the two found themselves travelling back towards the fence. Rey tried her best not to trip on any stray pieces of scrap before a plan dawned on her. 

Taking Maz by surprise before she could be cornered, Rey ducked and swung when Maz was right open, the collision with her leg slowing her down a bit. Anybody else would stop to make sure the old woman was okay, but Rey knew her friend better. She turned and began scaling up a nearby pile of scrap with ease and years of practice. 

Soft droplets of rain started to kiss her nose when she spun to deflect Maz’s next swing and charged on the offence. Spinning her quarterstaff, she began making hit after hit with Maz’s own, jumping to other piles of nearby scrap and beckoning Maz to join her when she felt the woman begin to slow down. She smirked and accepted the challenge every time. 

Rey began to get cocky and used more spins and finesse in her attacks. She would lift her staff above her head to attack down when Maz was in between her own attacks. Before she knew it, Maz spun around Rey and knocked the back of her kneecaps with her staff,  sending her forward into the metal. A winning blow. Before Rey could collide with the now wet surface, her face hovered an inch above impact and rested there, suspended. She began to panic and tried to squirm out of this motionless grasp to no avail. “You expect every fight to be fair, dear. I see your eyes. You have no idea what is to come.”

“I need her in one piece, _Kanata_.”

Rey’s breath hitched as the rain intensified, blurring her view. She didn’t need to see, she knew exactly who had found her again.

“Kylo Ren,” Maz chimed, walking down the scrap pile to meet him face to face. “I was just training your friend Rey for what is to come.

He sneered at her and brushed her off as if she were nothing. Rey fell to the ground from her levitated position softly, blinking in surprise. Her breathing began to intensify as Kylo grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up. The rainwater was dripping from his shaggy hair onto his leather jacket, and his eyes peered down onto her like daggers. “What, you think you could run away from me so easily?”

“No,” Rey replied through her gritted teeth. “I was getting scrap metal.”

“Oh, so you’re building a superweapon to kill me with? I guess that is a lot more entertaining.” He began dragging her down the hill of metal and let her go when they got to the bottom. She looked at him, wide-eyed, as he bent down to pick up her bag and shoved it in her face. “My little bird has spunk.”

Rey scoffed and snatched her bag from him as Maz chuckled. “I am not your anything _or_ your little bird! There’s something wrong with you. How did you make that jar shatter? I know you did it. H-how was I floating above the ground just then?” She had to yell it all back at him over the rain.

He leaned forward slowly and whispered in her ear with a rude smirk. “It’s called the force, sweetheart.” 

He really _was_ a monster. She was at a loss for words.

Maz came up from behind Rey and put a comforting hand on her trembling shoulder. “And it calls to _you_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this one's a thicky. I'm not entirely sure if every chapter is going to be this long because they're going to be as long as I need them to be, but we'll see!
> 
> I was really stoked to dive into Rey's relationship with Poe more. I hope they get to be super good buds in Episode IX! Everybody has their own debts to pay at Mos Eisley, so more on how Poe got stuck there will be coming soon...
> 
> Also, I figured if Maz was the one to nudge Rey into her path with the force in TFA, it should be the same with this fic. I even quoted her a lil bit ;) I absolutely love Maz, I hope we get some first-class ass-kickin from her as well in IX!
> 
> I was totally inspired by EjBlaKit's "Demonology 101" Reylo fic to have Rey still be a handy person with scrap metal. In the fic Rey makes Finn and Poe a little metal squirrel and cat and it's so cute!! It's a really good fic and currently has 40 chapters. Let me tell you, it's a really good binge read. I'd highly recommend!


	3. whiskey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the positive feedback on the last chapter! I don't think I can thank you guys enough.
> 
> I'm uploading this half asleep (oopsies!) because I've had a week full of rehearsals for my school's Black History Month production. I choreographed two pieces in it so it's been non-stop, but I'm glad I could still upload this chapter on time!
> 
> This chapter has some hints of backstory and I'm so for it. I can't wait to completely tell the story of each character and how they ended up in Mos Eisley because this little diner is the heart and soul of this fic. Rey's also a frickin badass in this chapter too ;)
> 
> Let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments, I love hearing from you. Also be sure to follow my tumblr (same name as my AO3) for more updates on this fic. Sending all my love to you guys, and have a wonderful Black History Month! <3

“Maz, who’s side are you on anyway?” Rey shoved her friend’s hand away and walked towards the big doors of the junkyard. 

The rain wasn’t lessening, and if she wasn’t home soon she’d get a serious cold. The last time she came down with something, Unkar wouldn’t let her hear the end of it. Both her, Finn, _and_ Poe were out of work for the entire week, and their insistent coughing and sneezing kept the entire house up until all hours of the night. It made sense she got Finn sick, seeing as they shared a room, but she never understood how Poe caught their cold and Unkar never did. They were all on bedrest for almost a week while Unkar slaved away in the diner. It was the last time the three of them truly got to spend time with each other. 

Kylo stepped in front of her path, arms crossed and brows furrowed. “No, no, no, where do you think you’re going?”

“Home,” Rey snapped and moved to walk around him.

He didn’t move to block her but instead moved his arm towards the door in a hospitable gesture with an annoying smirk. “To the First Order, ah, be my guest.”

“No!” Rey stopped in her tracks. She was growing tired of this nonsense. “I must be drugged or something. What was in that apple juice? I’m hallucinating. I-I’m freaking out!”

This time when she started moving again, Kylo grabbed her shoulders to force her to look at him. She wiggled defiantly in his grasp. “Of course you would have that reaction in my presence, it’s purely natural. But why didn’t you tell me you knew how to kick ass? It’s pretty hot.”

She scoffed in disgust. “You were _watching_ us?”

“Of course I was watching you,” he spit back in her face, the rain sputtering his words. “You’re one with the force Rey, and you know I can take anything I want.”

Rey could’ve yelled at him more; stars knew she had the annoyance left in her to do just that. She really could’ve kicked his ass too, if she so desired. But when her mind started throbbing, it felt like two black hands were weaving its way through every nook and cranny of her mind, and it _burned._ It was unlike a feeling she’d ever felt before, but it wasn’t exactly pain. It was overwhelming, and the rain, Maz, the junkyard, along with everything else seemed to disappear, leaving only her and Kylo.

“You’re so lonely, so afraid to leave…” he purred into her ear. If it weren’t for the rain, he might’ve had the satisfaction of seeing her cry. “You imagine a life away from Unkar Plutt with, _oh, this is precious,_ your parents? They’re _dead_ , sweetheart. They left you with nothing but the clothes on your back and a gaping debt for their drinking habits for you to pay. They were fucking nobodies. But _you._ You’re just some desperate waitress at a shabby little dinner in the middle of a gang war. You’re a nobody, but not to me. Join me, Rey.” 

She was shaking from the cold and terror of these suppressed feelings coming back to haunt her. She shook as she tried to block him from slithering through her mind. It took her a moment of looking into his cold brown eyes to know he was toying with her. “You. You’re just as afraid as I am.” His eyes narrowed in her response, trying to search her eyes for any trace of a bluff. She reached up to the hands pressed firmly on her cheeks and ripped them away. “You’re a coward who will never be as strong as Darth Vader. Now get out of my head!”

She doesn’t remember exactly how it happened, the adrenaline left a hole in her memory, but her arm darted out in front of her and sent Kylo hurling back against the wet steel fence without any touch. Her senses were blinded by the rage he put there, and she wanted him to pay for what he made her feel. She wasn’t exactly sure of how she knew the name Darth Vader would take a jab at Kylo, or how he knew the legendary gang leader from before her time, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was her freedom, and the lengths she needed to go to in order to obtain it.

Kylo had the audacity to start chuckling at her. He rightened his position and with a thud, Rey sent him back up against the wall. By now he was just blatantly laughing in her face. “Maybe ‘little bird’ isn’t the best pet name for you after all. Shit, Rey, I knew you were strong with the force but _this_ takes the fucking cake.”

Forgetting she was there altogether, Maz came up behind Rey. “Let him go, child. Someone may see.” She did as told and stopped the force from constricting him.

Once he rightened himself back up from the wet ground, he held his hands up in surrender. “Rey my sweet, how about this? I’ll race you home!”

Her eyes widened. “You will not touch _any_ of my friends! You monster-“

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I have other plans.” He waltzed out of the junkyard and into his red car parked outside. Rey couldn’t help but watch, the events that just transpired playing back in her mind. This force, whatever it was, could read her mind and make her do things she’d only seen in movies. She had it, but she didn’t know what to do with it. He honked his car horn as he drove away into the mist of rain, down the street that suddenly felt endless, outnumbering her chances of making it home before him.

“Your answers lie ahead, child. Go,” Maz comforted. And she did. Quarterstaff in hand, Rey ran in the rain all the way to Mos Eisley, following the tire marks of Kylo Ren, where a grand mess was waiting for her to clean up yet again.

——-

She didn’t know what to expect when she got there, she didn’t want to think about it too long before she jumped to conclusions. After a while her legs felt non-existent as she sprinted in the rain, gaining a nasty cut on her knee when she became careless and tripped over herself. The pain was a numb sting as she continued down the road.

It was strange, she knew Poe and Finn were alright. She didn’t know exactly how, but she just did. At first, she thought it was intuition, but looking back on the events at the junkyard she knew she’d be too naïve to think it. The force was what has told her the boys were alright and they were both back at the diner.

She didn’t know what to make of this situation. If felt good to spar with Maz again but this time it felt different. Rey didn’t stop to ponder what move should come next, it all flowed through her expertly. Maz must’ve known Rey could use the force and that it awakened within her; she was preparing her for the battle that was to come. 

Shoving Kylo against the large steel fence felt good, too. She was infuriated with him once he brought up her parents, even Finn and Poe knew not to mention them to her. The last memory she has of them is a car driving away, leaving her crying in the middle of the diner while Unkar dragged her upstairs into her room. She stayed there locked up for a week before he started training her to be a waitress. Rey strived every day since those dark times of her childhood to live to the fullest until she could finally be free to find her parents again. She had always hoped one day they might come back to find her and apologize, she believed in her chances. That day never came, and Kylo had no right to wave that belief in front of her like a funny joke.

When she rounded the corner to the alleyway beside the diner, she began to hear the screaming and furniture being thrown across the room from outside. She snuck up the slippery fire escape to the upstairs apartment, quarterstaff in hand. Covering her mouth to muffle the panting from running, she crept through the window into Poe’s room. It was a mess, but not one of any danger. She could tell this was still from this morning when he hauled himself out of bed to the sounds of her argument with Unkar. Her heart skipped a beat at the realization that he was downstairs.

_“Hey!”_

She didn’t think twice when she ran out the bedroom door to see Phasma holding Finn at gunpoint, ready to fire. In her other hand, she held a glass of what seemed to be whiskey. “Don’t you dare hurt him!”

Phasma laughed. “Well if it isn’t the girl Ren is all worked up about.” She took a deep swing of her beverage.

Rey scrambled to think of a plan. She looked at Finn, wide-eyed, and saw him slowly shake his head in warning. “You’ll let him go now, or else,” Rey demanded.

“Or else what?” In one fair swoop, she dropped the glass, shattering it to the floor, and raised a second gun to point at Rey square in the forehead.

“Or else you’ll be sorry for ever threatening us.”

Phasma nodded at her quarterstaff. “With that piece of junk? Please. I didn’t come here for you, anyway. I have a score to settle with this traitor.”

“Rey, go,” Finn warned, but she had already made up her mind. Finn had told her the story of being raised in the First Order gang and how he escaped when he was old enough to decide that life wasn’t for him. Unlike her and Poe, Finn wasn’t at the diner to settle a debt, he was there because he had nowhere else to hide once he shot Phasma in the leg during his escape. She had kept track of him ever since, coming into the diner and making empty threats in case he ever felt like leaving. She wanted him right where she needed him, in Coruscant, where she could keep an eye on him. Rey never found out why.

She slowly lifted her quarterstaff to mirror Phasma’s position. “What makes you think you have any right to treat us like this, to invade our home? We want no part in this.”

Phasma kicked the staff out of Rey’s hand and shoved her against the wall, forgetting about Finn. She pressed the two guns into Rey’s neck, the pressure causing her to choke. “Look who’s feeling ballsy today. Definitely not the sharpest piece of scrap at the junkyard.” Rey’s eyes widened at the connection, resulting in a foul chuckle out of Phasma. “Yes, we know where you ran off to. We own this town, and now we own you, so we will take you with us because Kylo Ren wants us to.”

“But you didn’t want him to own me in the first place. You argued with him about it and yet he came after me anyway,” Rey countered, changing tactics. “He didn’t care what you had to think, he probably never has-“

The gun pressed further into her throat and she saw stars. “You know what? You’re right. He didn’t care about me, and for that, you’re a dead, dead bitch.” Finn protested but Phasma shot him a look, daring him to get closer. So he stood there, terrified, and watched Rey execute whatever plan she had. 

The yelling downstairs began to intensify, she could hear Unkar protesting. Phasma hit her across the head with the gun, leaving a big cut on her forehead. When the gun made contact with her forehead again, Rey squinted her eyes shut, and the sound of a shot fired filled _Mos Eisley._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯   
> Guess we'll see what happens next Thursday!


	4. cereal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter is late by a week! I hope you guys enjoy xx  
> Let me know what you think in the comments or on my tumblr (@kyloreyx) and I'll hit you guys up with another chapter next Thursday! Things are about to really pick up in the story, y'all!

“Unkar Plutt is dead,” Kylo Ren announced. The little upstairs den was in disarray. Phasma laid unconscious on the ground as Rey and waiter-boy held onto each other for dear life. By the looks of things, it seemed his sweetheart was becoming more acquainted with the force. He tried not to smile at the thought of Phasma being taken down by a 17-year-old girl; everybody knows the bitch deserved it. Revenge on Phasma aside, his main goal was getting Rey to come back with him soon before things got even more out of hand.

“Where’s Poe?” Rey spat in his face. She snapped him out of the trance they all shared of wide-eyed glares. It wasn’t like him to be caught off guard, he hoped he didn’t show it.

Before he could think of a snarky response, this Poe she referred to came rushing up the stairs repeating “I’m fine, I’m fine” annoyingly and out of breath. _As if we didn’t hear that the first time, genius_ , Kylo rolled his eyes. 

Blood stained Poe’s white tee shirt, but it wasn’t his own. Downstairs, during the initial chaos and before Kylo could feel Rey’s force signature, he was surprised when Poe stabbed a man with a shard of glass from a broken whiskey bottle. The clever bartender must’ve hidden somewhere until the rest of the violence was over, or else he would still be downstairs or dead along with Plutt. Or both. The man he killed was expendable, a lower-ranking member of the First Order gang (also referred to as a Stormtrooper) who was too deep in his cups to be useful, so it was a quite ironic end.

Poe passed Kylo to join his disheveled friends in a tight embrace; they all clung onto each other for dear life. Any other time Kylo would’ve gagged at the sight, a three-person family such as this brings back more bad memories than he could chew, but it still struck him how vulnerable Rey was in this moment. It’s true he’s only known her for a day, but in all their conversations she’s been strong, defiant and sharp-tongued. Now, however, she looked like a mixture of love, appreciation, fear and anger. She genuinely believed she could’ve lost these two lowlifes in the scrimmage of _Mos Eisley_. They're the definition of collateral damage; they were in the middle of a gang war that had been thrashing about far before their days of bussing tables. Rey is ten times stronger than them and yet she seems to love them. It made Kylo furrow his brows, trying to understand why anybody would love someone that much. It’s a fucking waste of time, especially considering you’re just going to get hurt in the end.

“Why did you kill Unkar? What do you want with Rey?” Finn snapped.

“I settled your debts with him, you should be thanking me. _Mos Eisley_ is now First Order territory. You can either let Rey come with us now or rot in the fucking streets and never see her again.” He said it passively as he waltzed over to Phasma and checked for a heartbeat, just to be sure. The fingers pressed to her neck told him all that he needed to know, the bitch would live another day. He decided the same fate for Finn and Poe, for Rey’s sake. He could use this against her in her teachings one day.

Poe broke out of the embrace and marched towards Kylo. “What makes you think we’re going down without a fight? This is our home, we’re not letting her go with an asshole like you.”

“Then you’ll leave in pieces,” Kylo said casually. He didn’t make eye contact with Poe as he heard him start to choke. His eyes stayed right where he wanted them on Rey's wide-eyed face. The chokes turned to gags and wiggling feet and Poe raised into the air, fighting for oxygen. His hands scrapped at his neck for no reason whatsoever, yet it still brought Kylo the satisfaction of a job well done.

Rey yelled and yelled in protest, but Kylo didn’t budge. She didn’t dare move, smart girl, but when her tears began to flow Kylo went into the next phase of his plan. “Come with me and they’ll go free.”

Que Finn to always play the useless hero. “No, Rey, you can’t-“

“Stop telling her what to do,” Kylo interrupted. Finn shot into the air, matching Poe’s stance with a shock apparent in his wide eyes. Rey’s hands covered her mouth to muffle her sobs as Poe looked to Finn, terrified. He tried to reach for him but it was no use, they were too far apart. What did he think to accomplish by touching his friend, anyway? Idiot.

“Kylo stop.” She choked on her sobs and moved in front of him.  She stared up at him, terrified yet defiant, as she tried to pry into his mind. She was clearly short on tricks having just discovered her force abilities but was desperate for something.

He bent down strengthen their gaze. “Don’t make me show you what it would look like if you didn’t come with me.”

Flashes of blood and screams flickered through their shared connection and Rey gasped. “Monster,” she bit out.

He shrugged and tightened his grip on their throats. Their gags and groans became louder, more desperate, and something inside Rey snapped.  “Stop! I’ll go with you, I won’t try to leave. Just don’t hurt them.”

Their bodies fell to the ground as they inhaled desperately. Poe’s hand reached for Finn as he called to him, asking if he was alright. Without a second spared, Kylo  grabbed her arm and shoved her in the direction of the stairs. He didn't glance back at the three people littered on the ground as he pushed Rey onward. 

When they reached the dining level, her sobs intensified at the sight of her life being turned upside down. The place was a wreck, covered in blood, bodies, and shattered glass. Surviving members of the First Order were still looting the place before they began cleaning it up again. _Mos Eisley_ was the most strategic and convenient move Kylo has made under his new higher position in the gang. They could camp out under the noses of the Resistance, _and_ they got to Rey before anyone else could. It was perfect, and he should’ve felt damn proud of himself if it weren’t for the relentless tug at the back of his mind. In his hand, he held a young wreck of a girl shaken to her core, and the feeling of pity was trying to flood its way through the dark parts of his mind. He wouldn't let it.

“Go upstairs, leave the two boys unharmed but get Phasma back to the base. I got us some pretty waiters,” Kylo chuckled to his companion. A group of three Stormtroopers went upstairs to take care of it.

They went outside into the night as the rain from earlier continued to pour. He walked Rey around his car and opened the door for her, gesturing her into the passenger’s seat. “Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ll get you some warm clothes at your new palace. In the meantime, don’t try anything stupid.”

With a slam of the door muting her protest, he walked back around and climbed in behind the wheel. He put his keys in the ignition and turned to look at Rey. What he received in return was a look of pure hatred and terror; he hesitated to relish in it or shy away from it. These new emotions he felt around her will fade when she grows accustomed to the dark side, he knew that, but his little Rey of light will prove to be a damn pest if that isn’t done soon. 

“If it’s a consolation prize, sweetheart, you’re still alive because I want you to be.”

“I never wanted you to, just like I never wanted you to settle my debt with Unkar. I will never, ever join the First Order, you fucking piece of-“

With a flick of his wrist, she fell into a deep sleep, and they drove off towards the base in the night. Pretty as she was, she talked way to damn much.

 

—

 

Rey’s dreams were filled with harrowing voices, poking and prodding at her mind and her deepest insecurities. All she could see was Poe and Finn, feet dangling above the ground as Kylo stared at her, emotionless and hollow. She would’ve run away if she could, but the walls caved in on her before she could move a muscle. A deep, ominous voice flooded her senses in the dark rubble of _Mos Eisley_. “These are your first steps.”

She gasped awake in a room foreign to her. It didn’t feel like a cell but it sure looked like one, with no furnishing besides the uncomfortable bed she rested on. The walls were grey and the lights were dim; she suddenly missed her little window back home. It was the kind of room that could make you feel hopeless, and if it weren't for the distant smell of metal and grease giving Rey a fraction of comfort, it would've made her feel that way.

When she moved to sit up, her head rushed and her pounding headache followed. She groaned and massaged her temples as the door opened and a very unwelcome Kylo swept through the small room. “Sleep well?”

“Like hell I did,” Rey snapped.

He chuckled as he sat down on the edge of her bed. She scurried away to the opposite side and held the sheet up to her chest. She noticed then that she was wearing foreign black clothes. It was still sleep attire, but very different than anything she had back at home. “Where are my clothes? I may have to stay here but I sure won’t dress like you criminals.”

“If I remember correctly, you ran home in the rain last night. You were soaked, genius. We provided you with what we had,” Kylo said smugly.

“What do you want from me?” 

Kylo turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Funny, your friend Finn asked the same question before I strangled him.”

In a fit of pure anger, she rose out of bed and aimed to punch Kylo square in the face with her fist. She stopped mid-air, the force constricting her. “Stop… doing… _that,”_ she bit out through her teeth.

Kylo rose off the bed and stood in front of her. “We want you because you’re an asset. We recruit members who can use the force so we can build an army against the Resistance. Satisfied? I answered your annoying-ass question.”

The force let her go and she fell head first into the mattress with a loud _oof_. Kylo chuckled at her and threw some clothes onto the bed. “Get changed, have a bite to eat. I’m going to give you the grand tour of _The Supremacy_.”

The door opened and a tall, scrawny, ginger-haired man came in carrying a bowl of cereal. “Why I’m playing chef is beyond me. I have far more important things to do, Ren.”

“Ah Hux, I thought you wanted to meet my new friend Rey! Isn’t she sweet?”

Rey glared up at him from the bed and Hux’s face curled in disgust. “Clearly,” he retorted.

 

—

 

Once she was done her cereal and getting changed, Rey exited the doors of her room to interrupt an awkward silence between Kylo and Hux. They lifted their backs against the wall and walked down the hallway with her. "Rey, this is Hux. I think you'd like him, actually."

"You don't know me," she muttered.

Kylo shook his head. "I know you pretty well, actually. One day with you and you've told me everything I need to know to persuade you to the dark side. You're an open fucking book."

"One day with you and I know you're a withering, loathsome snake." She noticed Hux raise his eyebrows in silent respect for her comeback. She remembered Poe mentioning this Hux guy in conversation yesterday morning. He and Kylo are fighting to be the next leader of the First Order and from the looks of it, the two are forced to work together for the time being. "What is the dark side?"

They turned a corner and walked through two large glass doors. A large garage awaited inside, littered with scrap cars in one corner and people dressed in black and white all throughout. Some were training with metal swords or just working out, others were walking in perfectly formulated lines, but most were just hanging around. Rey could feel the wake-up call and her cereal rise through her throat. How the hell was she going to escape this?

"You'll learn more about the dark side when your teachings start. In the meantime, welcome to _The Bridge_ ," Kylo stopped in place with her and Hux as he looked around with pride. "Maybe you'll actually make a friend here, sweetheart. Since you're so charismatic."

"Quit playing with your toy, Ren. You have business to attend to." Without another word, Hux strode off, hands behind his back, into one of the hallways that branched off _The Bridge_.

Kylo watched him leave and moved to stand beside Rey as a group of men dressed in white marched past them. "He's always had a huge stick up his ass, don't worry."

"I'm not worried, and I am  _not_ your toy."

He smiled down at her. "Course not. My toys are something I save for the bedroom, but I have an opening if you're interested." Rey scoffed in disgust as he laughed.

He granted her some silence as she got a better look around the room. She shivered at the sight of a wall splattered with red and dawned with chains. She didn't want to know what it took to get chained up there. It was sectioned off by walls of glass, so she assumed it was an interrogation room... that's the most pleasant way she could put it.

In the far corner of the large garage was a lounge of sorts, framed by black leather couches, dim lamps and a dart board. She walked over to get a better look, Kylo trailing quietly behind.

There's a picture of a man so indented with dart holes that she can't quite figure out who he is, but she knows she's never seen him before. "Who is that?" she asks innocently.

A dart floats up through the force and hits it's mark - right on the throat of the man in the picture. "Luke Skywalker."

"Of the Resistance?"

He walks over to pluck the dart out of Luke's throat and carelessly tosses it to the ground. "Probably. Nobody has seen the bastard for decades, but if I ever did... he'll be sorry."

Rey moved to stand at Kylo's side. From here she could tell the original photo was cut in half where someone once was; a hand rested on Luke's shoulder as he smiled with the wind in his hair. He seems to be on top of a mountain, with hints of the sea far below him. "What has he ever done to you?"

"Oh, so you care? How sweet-"

His sarcasm went right over her head this time. "I'm serious. Why do you hate the Resistance? Why join the First Order?" She honestly wanted to know why anyone would choose this life of villainy. If she was going to live it for stars knows how long and try to eventually escape, she needed more answers. 

"The Resistance ruined me, and I didn't just join the First Order,  _I made it._ I will do anything to bring the Resistance down. I will kill anyone that gets in my way, train a thousand more soldiers, fight a thousand more fights... and I will recruit a thousand more girls from their dirty little diners to do it."

He seemed proud of that line, but Rey wasn't having it. He's angry, sure, but Kylo Ren was hiding something from her. There is more to this than simple hatred, and she was going to find out what and use it against him. She stared back at him because for once she didn't have anything to say. There wasn't anything  _to_ say. At that moment, she made a vow to herself. A vow to escape back home, back to Finn and Poe, and run away from all of this and live the life she's always wanted. She knew she could do it, and she had hope.

"Now, let's train," Kylo concluded.

 

 


	5. mouldy sandwiches and dirty beers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter is coming so late. I had to take a little hiatus for my health, but now I'm back and better than ever! Hope you enjoy this chapter, I know all my stormpilot readers will ;)

There was no knock on the door when Poe rushed into the bathroom. This was the only way he could have a private conversation with Finn and he was damn lucky nobody saw him enter. The First Order has eyes and ears all over _Mos Eisley_ now, except in the shower, of course. Even brutes had common decency.

 

Taken out of Psycho, Finn poked his head out of the curtains, using it to cover his soapy chest, absolutely terrified. He relaxed slightly when he identified his intruder, then grew very aware of the fact that he was very, very naked in front of his best friend. “Poe, you couldn’t even knock?”

 

“No, there’s no time for knocking. It’s been a week and we still haven’t heard from Rey. We need to get out of here.”

 

Finn huffed and returned to the warm of the water, quickly rinsing off the rest of the soap. Poe grabbed a towel impatiently and stuck it behind the curtain, not caring if it got wet. There was no time for stubbornness on Finn’s end, they had to move. 

 

When he finally stepped out the shower, the towel wrapped tightly around his waist, Finn left the water running to mask their conversation. He was annoyed that his only moment of solitude from the agonizingly long shifts was cut short. Poe, on the other hand, struggled not to take in the shape of Finn’s biceps, collarbone dripping down his front… he perished the thought.

 

“Sorry, buddy, this is the only way we can talk without them listening. I bring a peace offering, though.” Poe reached into his jacket pocket to pull out two squished sandwiches in a ziplock bag. The mustard was oozing lazily out the side and it didn’t look all that appetizing with the green dots of mould, but it’s better than the scraps they are given at dinner.

 

Finn nodded in understanding from where he now sat on the toilet seat. He grabbed his sandwich and took a big bite. “How are we going to do this? Stormtroopers are _everywhere._ Like that one time when the kitchen had maggots. _”_

 

“Tonight we’ll stage a riot,” Poe explains. “We’ll sneak out while they fight amongst themselves. Wait, _maggots_? C’mon, Finn, I’m trying to eat here.”

 

Finn grunts into his sandwich, his stomach too focused to care. 

 

“It won’t kill us to try, we need to get out of here. If not for us, then for Rey.”

 

“No, no, no, no, no. It probably will kill us to try,” Finn countered.

 

“Are you in then?”

 

A sigh. “Yeah, yeah, I’m in.”

 

-

 

“ _Again,_ Rey.”

 

Rubbing her temples in frustration, Rey struggled to keep her growing anger tame. They’ve been at basic force techniques for almost a week now and she hasn’t been able to get it. It’s not that she doesn’t want to learn- that’s how she’s going to get out of here, after all. It’s more along the lines of whenever she’s alone in her thoughts to focus, all she can think about is Finn and Poe and if they’re okay. She loses sleep at night over it, with voices haunting her dreams whenever she does eventually drift into unconsciousness.

 

She closes her eyes and reaches out again. The little marble on the table shakes but does nothing. Not even her deep huffing and puffing can make it budge. 

 

Kylo, at this point beyond frustrated with her, got up from his chair to pace around the room. One more second of this insanity and he’ll be forced to do something rash. 

 

“You’re not focusing!” His yelling booms through the small, concrete-walled room.

 

“How am I supposed to focus with you yelling at me! Can’t you just use the force to get me to use it?”

 

He leans down to her height, seething. “ _That’s not how the force works_.”

 

“It might as well! We’re getting nowhere.”

 

“How about a little bribery, then?” Kylo counters. “You get your shit together and move this _fucking marble_ and I’ll bring you all the top-notch scrap metal from Maz Kanata’s myself.”

 

“How about you _let me out of here.”_

 

“This is a one-time deal, sweetheart. Take it or leave it.”

 

“I can’t stand you!”

 

Their bickering ended with the light sound of the marble hitting the floor. Looking at it quizzically, Kylo decided to take it as an opportunity. “You can’t even lift a fucking marble, Rey. I guess I was wrong about you.”

 

“I threw you against a fence in the junkyard, I stopped Phasma from killing my best friend, and I was able to read your mind. Maybe I was wrong about you when I thought you could teach me in the first place!”

 

“It’s not my fault teaching you how to use the force is like teaching a little puppy where to shit!”

 

He’s interrupted with a grunt as the marble hit him square in the chest. Rey never moved a muscle, but her eyes said all he needed to know. It was her. 

 

“I knew it. You can only use the force when you’re pissed. You’re more in tune with the dark side than I thought.”

 

She stares at the tiny green marble at his feet for a moment in an attempt to calm herself. She’s now utterly transfixed at the events transpiring between them. “Why won’t you tell me about it? The dark side?”

 

“All in due time. I want to have some fun first," he winks with charm, which absolutely annoys her, "I’ll bring you some scrap tomorrow morning, you’ve earned it.” With that, he stalks out of her room. He leaves the marble on the ground and Rey overflowing with anger she doesn’t know what to do with.

 

-

 

The riot was during the night shift at _Mos Eisley._ Stormtroopers filled the dining area and were drunken and rowdy by midnight. Finn was serving them as a waiter, ignoring their snide comments and blatant bullying, while Poe pretended to be sick to have another Stormtrooper take his bar shift. One swipe of bad mustard and a careful application was all it took for them to believe the act.

 

Without being seen, which seems to be a stroke of luck that had befallen him on this particular day, Poe tiptoes down the stairs and grabs a glass from the kitchen. In one swift move, he darts around the corner and throws it into the dining room blindly, praying not to hit Finn.

 

The crash landed straight on the head of a higher-up named Mitaka. His cry silenced the room as he pressed his hands onto his bleeding scalp. 

 

Finn pointed an accusing finger at the bartender without a second to lose. “I saw it, _he did it!”_

 

“I did not, traitor,” yelled the bartender from across the room. 

 

Wait, _traitor?_

 

Before Poe could process anything a group of drunken Stormtroopers had already begun to land punches on the innocent man. Finn watched in shock, surprised this plan might actually work.

 

Snapping back to reality, he strode over to Mitaka’s table. “I’ll get you a towel and some bandages from upstairs,” he explains, and he runs like a madman out of the heightening madness.

 

The two friends didn’t wait long to run out the back door of the kitchen and into the night of the alleyway. One hand gripped on Poe’s wrist, Finn leads the way down the alley and around the corner onto the streets of Coruscant. That night they left a _Mos Eisley_ that for a week had no longer felt like home, and will never be the same.

 

-

 

The next morning, Rey is awoken by a sharp sound of metal hitting the ground. Kylo made true on his promise, it seems, and he looks like the happiest man on earth and he sets down the junk begrudgingly. “I let you sleep in too, but you can thank me in other ways. Come on.”

 

She doesn’t thank him, but she does change quickly into her black training clothes (with the First Order symbol spread annoyingly across the back of the t-shirt) and out into the corridor where he waits for her. As they walk to the training room like every other morning this past week, she tugs her hair into her three favourite buns. She swears she could see Kylo giving her sideways glances.

 

When they arrive in the makeshift gymnasium, it’s completely empty. Everybody knows not to dare interrupt one of Kylo’s training sessions.

 

From what Rey can tell, he seems to be a higher-up in this well-knit operation. Most people around here respect him, fear him, even, except for the likes of Hux. She never expected a street gang to function like this.

 

Shrugging off his leather jacket and throwing it carelessly onto the leather chair by the door, Kylo makes for the weapons rack. In doing so, she tries not to take too much notice of the white muscle shirt he has on, and how when he bends over to pick up a quarterstaff, it bends along with his abdomen in a very flattering way. The fact that he’s wearing a colour other than black says something, too.

 

He throws the staff to her and reaches for a cross guard blade. It’s pretty long a gaudy compared to the other weapons lying around, but then again, it matches his personality _perfectly._

 

“You wanted your lesson on the dark side? Well, here it is.”

He comes charging at her with a second’s notice, and she immediately takes a defensive stance with her staff. He drops the cross guard in his pursuit and grabs her weapon and shoves her back against the wall, effectively pinning her. She struggles against it, but he doesn’t budge.

 

“Now that we're nice and close,” a ghost of a smile spreads across his features, the bastard was _enjoying_ this, “How would you use the dark side to get out of this?”

 

Rey tries to use her strength to push against him, but it doesn't work. Gritting her teeth, she tries to think her way around it… then it hits her.

 

She lets go of the staff altogether and ducks down. She spins around his broad figure, dodging the staff as it comes down on her, and in doing so grabs Kylo’s quarterstaff. She uses it to block the rear end of the staff as it swings towards her again.

 

They both moved in one fluid movement, and it scared the shit out of her. The force buzzed between them.

 

His eyes narrowed at her as he straightened his back. With a swing of the quarterstaff, he surges at her again. She blocks when they collide and goes to swing again, to which he dodges easily with a step to the side. She tries again. He blocks it and swipes her feet out from under her. The staff swings in the air and comes down just shy of her chin; she copied his movement in dodging by rolling onto her back.

 

In an unexpected move, Kylo comes down on her before she can even try getting up. He’s straddling her waist now, the staff back down over her throat. She freezes.

 

“Why do you wait?” 

 

She realizes the cross guard still rests in her hand. He’s wide open and she’s doing nothing.

 

Her body guides her now. It has her twisting her torso and bringing her knees up onto his backside to roll them over. Now they’re swapped, he is below her, wrists pinned by the quarterstaff as it digs into his neck, and cross guard pressed into his side. He sputters as he looks up to her, sweat pooling on his forehead. 

 

“I waited for the right moment. How would you use the light side to get out of this?”

 

He begins to smile, slightly shifting his body underneath her to make him very aware of the position they’re in. Rey tries not to go red in embarrassment. “I don’t care. I kinda like it when you pin me down. You’re so cute when you’re hot and bothered.”

 

She scoffs and shoves the cross guard into his gut, resulting in a hearty laugh from him.

 

-

 

To try and pick Poe’s lowest point is like finding a needle in a haystack. He has so many damn low points it’s hard to pinpoint rock bottom.

 

He thinks dumpster diving might be the closest.

The sticky and downright foul smelling dumpster outside Lando Calrissian’s strip joint _Cloud City_ didn’t have the freshest array of breakfast picks. Poe tried to shimmy his hips further into the bin - a plastic bag in the far right corner seemed promising - only to fall face first into the garbage.

 

Finn stifled a laugh. To be honest, he didn’t even have the energy to laugh. They’ve been on the run all night, terrified of any Stormtroopers catching onto their escape route. 

 

“Hey!! Who would throw out two perfectly good beers? They’re still sealed and everything!”

 

Poe popped his head up, a pair of soiled pink panties tangled in his curls. This time Finn really laughs, loud and booming, pointing at his friend’s unfortunate catch of the day. Poe looks at him, puzzled, as his hands trail up his face until he makes contact with the grimy lace. He yells and chucks the panty back into the dumpster and practically flies out.

 

“Beers for breakfast? Or should you go inside to eat something else?” Finn can’t control his laughter at this point.

 

Poe grudgingly pops open the bottles with practised ease against the edge of the dumpster. “Shut up, would you?”

 

They each chug back their breakfast. Its bitter, and the smell of garbage coating the outsides of the bottles don’t make it all that appetizing, but they finish it anyway. Poe keeps his eyes on Finn the entire time, his Adam's apple bobbing as he desperately drinks.

 

When they’re finished, they toss the empty bottles back into the bin with a clang. 

 

“C’mon buddy, we have to keep moving.”

 

“ _Hey!_ ”

 

They turn to see a stormtrooper at the end of the alleyway. His shadow spreads out in front of him, menacing and big in the morning light. His gun is aimed directly at them. “If it isn’t the traitor!”

 

“Traitor? Why do they keep calling you that?” Poe looks to Finn to see his friend’s eyes wide and unmoving. 

 

“Give me all your fucking money now and you won’t get a bullet in your head.”

 

“Okay, okay, okay, now hold on a minute,” Poe tries to delay. He takes a step forward with his hands up only to jump back when the Stormtrooper shoots the ground in front of him.

 

“Don’t _fucking_ move. I heard about you, you two escaped _Mos Eisley._ You were the pretty little waiter boys! Give me your fucking money!” 

 

“We don’t have any,” Finn yells. “We just dumpster dived for our breakfast. If we had any money we’d given it to you by now.”

 

“It’s true, I was in there. We don’t have money but there's a lovely pair of panties in there with your name on them.”

 

Finn rolls his eyes. Why does Poe say the things he does?

 

Suddenly the Stormtrooper is shot in the back with a loud buzz. The boys move back towards the dumpster, terrified. He doesn’t seem to be bleeding, it must’ve been a stun from a taser. Once the trooper falls to the ground, a new shadow emerges. She’s rather short, her dark hair pulled up into a half ponytail, and she’s covered in orange… _and the Resistance symbol_.

 

“Hi! I’m Rose, and I’m here to rescue you!” 

 

She smiles like a child as if she hadn’t just taken a man down. Smiling particularly at Finn, Poe may add jealously. 

 

“This just keeps getting better and better.”

 

* * *

 

[tumblr](http://kyloreyx.tumblr.com)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! We're not in Mos Eisley anymore, ladies and gentlemen. Don't worry, we'll be back. 
> 
> And whats that? Kylo flirting? Is Rey maybe liking it? Is Poe clearly liking Finn? Might Rose be into Finn? Is Finn oblivious to all of it? Yes, yes he is.
> 
> Tell me what you think of this chapter in the comments!


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